Girls basketball: Buckeye hires Tara Piovarchy as head coach

YORK TWP. — Buckeye has turned to one of its own to lead its girls basketball program into a new era. Pending board approval, Tara (Ross) Piovarchy will be the Bucks' 14th coach since the OHSAA began sponsoring the sport in 1975-76. The program's eighth-grade coach replaces Ron Clady, who resigned after compiling a 19-50 record over three seasons in his second stint that made his overall Buckeye mark 93-92. Piovarchy is the second-leading scorer in school history with 1,098 points from 1998-2002 and remains the leader for assists (328) and 3-pointers (136). Few understand the program better, as older sister Tanya was Medina County's all-time leading scorer (1,688) from 2000-25 and younger sister Katie was the team's leading scorer after Tara graduated. "I'm excited to come back," Piovarchy said. "I've always wanted to be a head coach, and obviously even more so since I've been around most of these players since (they were in) second grade. It's a great group of girls, and I can't wait to work with them again." No one understands the current roster better, as well, because Piovarchy helped found the girls travel program in 2018 and has coached every active varsity player except one at some point. She also racked up sparkling 10-6, 15-2 and 13-1 records as the eighth-grade coach over the last three seasons. While Buckeye has struggled mightily since going 20-4 in 2018-19 — its 51-105 record (.327) is last in Medina County by one game to Black River (52-104) over the past seven seasons — the Bucks will be the most experienced team in the Cleveland West Conference next season with 985 of their 1,048 points (.940) returning. Forward Ava Wolf (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Piovarchy's daughter Ava (8.1, 5.3), center Carlie Gunkelman (6.3, 5.9), guard Juliana Melillo (5.9), center Molly Danilovic (4.8) and wing Kendyl Dukarm (4.4) all averaged at least four points in 2025-26. While the Bucks had a 8-15 record, seven losses were by single digits and the offense improved 7.3 points to a respectable 45.6 average. "We have a lot of returning players who have a lot of varsity experience at a young age and a good group of freshmen coming in who will also contribute," Piovarchy said. "There are a lot of athletic girls who we hope we can build more skill into. We want to set the pace every game, give 110% when we step on the floor and outhustle everyone every game." The 42-year-old was the third-leading scorer for the 2000 team that reached the Division III regional semifinals and was ranked third in the final Associated Press D-III state poll. She then averaged 14.2 and 17.6 points over the next two seasons and was an All-Mohican Area Conference selection. Tanya (Ross) Dolata and longtime assistant coach Amy Bryk are expected to join the staff. "We're going to be more of a running team compared to the last couple years," Piovarchy said. "The more we'll push and run, the more opportunities we'll get. "It's going to be a learning curve, but everyone has been supportive so far — from the administration to the parents — and I can't wait to get started." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.